Local Charity, Somebody Cares has launched its Urgent Christmas Appeal today to ensure no family goes without this Christmas. The charity aims to provide 10-day food parcels to those in need within the city and shire and is predicting a massive increase in demand this year due to the rising number of households struggling as a result of the cost-of-living crisis.
“Last Christmas our foodbank distributed an incredible 24,630 meals to local households, however we are fully expecting this number to rise for Christmas 2022 as a growing number of local people find themselves having to turn to foodbanks to help them get through the month.” Explained COO, Alison Topley.
“Requests for help with food, toiletries, cleaning products, baby items and pet food are coming in from all over the city and into the shire and requests are from those both in and out of work. It would seem that no one is immune from the impact of the current crisis. Times are incredibly hard for many people and Somebody Cares needs to be ready to help in every way we can” continued Alison. “Like last year we want to offer large food parcels to see families through to the new year and also provide Christmas treats, gifts for children and single parents and Christmas Eve Bags to keep the magic of Christmas alive for our youngest residents. Christmas 2022 is going to be hard for many families and we are hoping to enlist local companies and groups to help us offer support and spread hope and encouragement to our growing vulnerable community.”
The charity is calling for local businesses to hold a food collection, adopt their inventive reverse advent calendar or donate to their work at www.justgiving/campaign/SomebodyCares
The charities slogan is ‘The way to help a city is to love it’, this appeal will certainly demonstrate this work in action throughout the city this Christmas. Somebody Cares are also keen to speak to businesses interested in volunteer time or corporate sponsorship. They can be contacted at fundraising@somebodycaresscotland.org